According to TechRadar, Australia has added Reddit and Kick to its controversial social media ban list that already includes Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat, and X. The world-first law takes effect on December 10, 2025, and will fine platforms up to A$50 million if they fail to prevent users under 16 from accessing their services. Communications Minister Anika Wells has taken a firm stance, telling platforms there’s “no excuse for failure to implement this law.” The eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant confirmed this is a “dynamic list” that could expand as technology evolves. Platforms must take “reasonable steps” to detect and remove underage users, though what constitutes reasonable remains undefined. The government argues it’s merely asking platforms to use their existing technology to protect children rather than target them.
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The privacy nightmare nobody’s talking about
Here’s the thing that keeps privacy advocates up at night: how exactly are these platforms supposed to verify ages without creating a massive surveillance system? The law requires “age-assurance technologies” that could involve biometric analysis or collecting sensitive identity documents. Basically, we’re talking about handing over your driver’s license or facial scans just to scroll through memes.
And let’s be real – when has any government or tech company proven they can securely handle this kind of sensitive data? We’ve seen breach after breach where personal information gets leaked. Now imagine that database containing everyone’s government IDs and biometric data. The critics aren’t just being paranoid – they’re pointing out that the cure might be worse than the disease.
What exactly are “reasonable steps”?
The law’s ambiguity around “reasonable steps” is creating massive uncertainty for tech companies. What does that even mean? Self-declared age? Uploading documents? Facial age estimation? Each method comes with its own privacy trade-offs and accuracy issues.
Look, we’ve seen this movie before. When platforms try to estimate age from appearance, they get it wrong constantly. When they require documentation, they exclude people without IDs or create massive honeypots for hackers. And when they rely on self-declaration… well, we all know how that goes. Remember when we were all born in 1901 to access restricted content?
The VPN elephant in the room
So here’s the billion-dollar question: how do you enforce this in a globalized digital world? As coverage from AP News notes, tech-savvy users in other countries with similar restrictions simply turn to VPNs to bypass geographic blocks. A good VPN can mask your location completely, making age gates practically useless for anyone determined to get around them.
Are we really expecting 15-year-olds – who are digital natives – won’t figure this out? They probably know more about circumventing online restrictions than the regulators writing these laws. The whole approach feels like trying to stop water with a sieve.
Selective enforcement raises eyebrows
It’s interesting which platforms made the list and which didn’t. Reddit and Kick are in, but Discord, Roblox, and WhatsApp get a pass for now. According to Channel News Asia, Kick’s spokesperson noted Australia is a small market but the company was founded there and will engage constructively. That selective approach makes you wonder about the criteria – is it about actual risk to children or just targeting the most visible platforms?
And what about all the other services kids use? Gaming platforms? Messaging apps? The internet is way bigger than just social media giants. This feels like playing whack-a-mole with digital regulation.
The bigger picture nobody wants to discuss
Let’s be honest – this isn’t really about protecting kids. It’s about governments wanting more control over digital spaces and tech companies wanting to avoid massive fines. The Communications Minister talks about “opaque algorithms and endless scroll” like these are inherently evil, but the solution isn’t blanket bans and surveillance.
Where’s the digital literacy education? The parental controls that actually work? The age-appropriate content curation? Throwing A$50 million fines at companies and hoping they’ll magically solve this complex problem feels like the laziest possible approach to a genuinely difficult issue.
As December 2025 approaches, the world will be watching Australia’s experiment. But I’m skeptical this will achieve its stated goals while creating a whole new set of privacy problems we’ll be dealing with for decades.
